Ending a long-running emotional legal battle, Ports O’Call Restaurant in San Pedro was locked down by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department early Tuesday, July 17.

The action came after the restaurant exhausted its legal appeals – but was still hoping that the Port of Los Angeles would agree to a transition period to keep the 57-year-old restaurant open through Sept. 30.

Crews remove a statue from the Ports O’Call Restaurant in San Pedro on Tuesday morning. Photo: Donna Littlejohn

The site is being cleared so construction can begin on a new waterfront attraction, The San Pedro Public Market, which developers vow will have a more contemporary aura. A mix of local and chain restaurants are anticipated to be tenants and discussions are underway to include Ports O’ Call Restaurant in the new development.

Within just a couple of hours of authorities’ arrival on the scene Tuesday, the landmark eatery’s iconic sentry-style fishermen statues — a workman was heard to say one weighed 700 pounds — were hoisted from their pedestals and placed on a flatbed truck that carried them to Warehouse One nearby for storage.

Later, tables and chairs were hoisted away while workers scurried out with arms filled with uncooked food.

As word spread of the morning lockout, several residents showed up to watch the final shutdown, put off for weeks by legal wrangling.

‘SHOCKED’ BY LAST APPEAL’S FAILURE

Jayme Wilson, managing partner for San Pedro Waterfront LLC which owns the business, said the lockout came as something of a surprise considering the transition plan was to be discussed in closed session with attorneys at a board meeting later in the morning.

“We were totally shocked,” Wilson said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon. After arriving at the restaurant early in the morning, he said he looked out and spotted a Los Angeles Sheriff’s car in the parking lot at about 7 a.m.

“I said, ‘Is today the day?’ and he said ‘Yes,’” Wilson said.

Then he spotted in the distance a gathering of Port Police cars and other equipment in what appeared to be a staging area in the parking lot.

According to a statement sent by Deputy City Attorney Janet Karkanen to the restaurant’s legal counsel, the morning lockout was scheduled before the restaurant had conveyed its latest settlement offer on Friday, July 13 and was confirmed by board members during Tuesday morning’s closed session meeting with attorneys.

Because similar offers already had been declined by the Board of Los Angeles Harbor Commissioners, port staff “confirmed that the board’s standing directive to staff and counsel was to obtain possession of the premises as soon as possible without delay,” the statement read.

It went on to say: “In closed session today, the board confirmed that the lockout was consistent with their previous instructions and that the recent settlement offer would not have been accepted.”

“HEARTBREAKING”: A SURREAL SEASIDE SCENE

Several residents circled around to watch the final curtain come down on the place where many had celebrated birthdays, baptisms, weddings and anniversaries through nearly six decades.

Many expressed anger toward the Port of Los Angeles over what they believed was unfair treatment to the restaurant that had such a long history in the harbor. All three of San Pedro’s neighborhood councils had asked that the restaurant be allowed to stay.

But for many, it was a day to lament a piece of the town’s history falling by the wayside.

Stephanie Mardesich, a longtime supporter of the village and of preserving the town’s fishing heritage, said she was “in mourning” and criticized what she said was the port’s “callous attitude.”

“We were hoping to stay a few more months and donate the food to the San Pedro Elks Lodge” still under construction, Wilson said. Instead, the food was donated to charities, he said.

Some employees later carted out dishes, pans and other items from the restaurant.

A rendering of what the future San Pedro Public Market — replacing Ports O’ Call Village — will look like were. (Image from Rapt Studio)

The fish in the restaurant’s tropic fish tank were removed and taken in by 7 Seas Tropical Fish, the business that has cleaned the restaurant’s tank for several years.

“I’m just surprised it’s ended this way for the oldest restaurant in San Pedro,” Wilson said.

THE LAST LEGAL DANCE

Ports O’ Call Village opened in 1963 with the restaurant as its first business. And in the end, the restaurant was among the last of the holdouts after the Port of Los Angeles issued eviction notices. In its legal appeal, the restaurant, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, was asking to remain open through January 2019 in order to be able to reorganize and pay off its creditors.

Restaurant officials said they submitted the phased closeout plan “in the spirit of cooperation,” Wilson said in a written reply to a Southern California News Group inquiry.

Wilson said the Sept. 30 date would “allow all the weddings, quinceañeras and other special family celebrations that we were unable to relocate, to (go on). Various buildings would be closed starting in two weeks, he said. “We would celebrate the 57-year traditions of the restaurant and the community awards we have received. We will look forward to opening in the new development.”

THE LOST VILLAGE

Until its recent hard times, Ports O’ Call Village was long a familiar, folksy gathering place in the South Bay and a retail center that drew shoppers from all over Southern Califonia.

The faux Cape Code-style center overlooking the water’s edge was the brainchild of restaurateur David Tallichet, who saw potential for an entertainment-style venue along the former Southern Pacific railroad wharf on the west side of the port’s Main Channel.

The first structure to be finished was the Polynesian-themed Ports O’ Call Restaurant, which opened in February 1961.

Tables and chairs being removed and loaded from Ports O’ Call Restaurant in San Pedro, ending a long and emotional legal battle on Tuesday. Photo: Donna Littlejohn, Daily Breeze

It didn’t take long for the restaurant to become a bustling spot for social events, club meetings and banquets and diners who loved just watching the container and cruise ships glide by as they ate.

More than 40 surrounding merchants were in place when the entire complex held its grand opening on July 13, 1963. When the Whaler’s Wharf section, south of the restaurant, opened in 1967, there were 85 businesses operating in Ports O’ Call Village.

Marineland employees pose in front of the park for a group photo on Feb. 3, 1987. The park would be closed permanently eight days later. Daily Breeze staff photo by Jack Lardomita.

The village drew a good number of people who through San Pedro to visit Marineland, a high-profile aquarium/theme park attraction next door, in Rancho Palos Verdes, that closed in February 1987.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, village merchants began to complain about their leases and the upkeep. By the late 1990s, only 35 merchants remained in the then-outdated shopping center.

Talk of a new attraction to replace it has been ongoing in the community ever since.

Crews prepare to remove an iconic statue from the Ports O’ Call Restaurant early Tuesday in San Pedro. Photo: Donna Littlejohn

Donna Littlejohn has covered the Harbor Area as a reporter since 1981. Along with development, politics, coyotes, battleships and crime, she writes features that have spotlighted an array of topics, from an alligator on the loose in a city park to the modern-day cowboys who own the trails on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. She loves border collies and Aussie dogs, cats, early California Craftsman architecture and most surviving old stuff. She imagines the 1970s redevelopment sweep that leveled so much of San Pedro's historic waterfront district as very sad.

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